


Two's Company

by miss_grey



Series: What We Do In The Dark [43]
Category: Band of Brothers
Genre: Awkward Conversations, M/M, everyone is protective of each other alright?, hunter dick winters, jealous Nix, protective nix, vampire nix, witch gene
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-11-25
Updated: 2019-11-25
Packaged: 2021-02-25 23:41:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21554038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/miss_grey/pseuds/miss_grey
Summary: …but three’s a crowd.  OR: Nix doesn’t know how he ended up harboring a witch in his house.
Relationships: Babe Heffron/Eugene Roe, Eugene Roe & Dick Winters, Lewis Nixon/Richard Winters
Series: What We Do In The Dark [43]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1366063
Comments: 20
Kudos: 62





	Two's Company

The sun had just dipped below the horizon and Nix was beginning to stir when a ripple of energy swept through the house, then another, and Nix suddenly felt like he was floating in the middle of the sea, untethered, as the waves rocked him. He sat up, squinting, and wondering what the hell that witch could be up to now, when he heard the man’s low, slow, melancholy voice from below. He was talking to someone…. _Who wasn’t Dick._

Nix hadn’t moved so fast since the demon, but he suddenly found himself, disheveled, still dressed in boxers and a t-shirt, confused, outside of his own closed library doors, where Dick leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. At Nix’s appearance, Dick straightened, brows pulling down in concern. “Nix,” he said, reaching out for him, “what’s wrong? What is it?”

Seeing Dick alone, unharmed, Nix allowed his shoulders to relax. “What’s he doing in there?”

Dick shrugged. “He said he had to get in touch with a friend.”

Nix glared at the library door then turned back to his lover. “In my library?”

Another shrug. “The books are in there. He seemed happy with them, by the way, so I’m glad you picked them up. Hopefully they’re useful.”

“He’s doing magic.” Nix said. “I don’t know what kind, but I can feel it.”

Dick quirked a brow. “You can feel it?”

Nix stared back at him incredulously. “ _You can’t?!_ ”

Dick thought about it for a moment. “No, I don’t think so. I mean…Gene’s got a sort of _feel_ about him, but I can’t sense anything other than that.”

The hair on the back of Nix’s neck was still on-end, and he was amped up from the energy flowing from the library, so he tried to ignore the idea of Dick feeling _anything_ about this guy. “How powerful is he, exactly?”

Dick shrugged. “Powerful enough to heal himself, apparently.”

Nix narrowed his eyes. “What? No, I can still smell his blood.”

Dick shook his head. “He had to cut his hand for the ward, earlier. But he says the other wound is healed now.” Dick set a hand on Nix’s shoulder and squeezed comfortingly. “Have you eaten anything yet?”

“No.”

“Come on, then. I’ll keep you company.” Nix was hesitant to move, but Dick’s hand on his shoulder guided him toward the kitchen. “I should get some food started, anyway.”

Nix grabbed a bottle of blood from the fridge then sat stiffly at the table and began to drink. He watched as Dick made his way comfortably around the kitchen, setting ingredients and dishes on the counter. After he swallowed a mouthful of cold, thick blood, Nix asked “What are you making?”

Dick hummed and glanced over his shoulder. “French toast.” Nix quirked a brow and Dick huffed. “Gene says he’s all healed up, but I thought it’d be a good idea to take it easy on his stomach for a while anyway. He seems to have handled the eggs okay, so I figured bread probably wouldn’t hurt. Bit more filling, though.”

“That’s thoughtful of you.”

Dick gave Nix one of his knowing looks then began to prepare the skillet. “I’m not the only one who was being thoughtful. Thank you again for the food. I know you were also looking out for him.”

Nix felt embarrassed, suddenly, at having been called out about his shopping choices. He wanted to protest, say that the oatmeal was definitely for Dick, but he knew that at this point, Dick could probably see right through him, and then he’d look stupid as well as jealous. Bad enough he hadn’t been able to keep _that_ particular reaction under wraps. So instead, Nix just nodded his head and drank his bottle of blood.

A few minutes later, as the bread was sizzling in the skillet, the library door pulled open and the witch stumbled out. Nix turned in his seat just in time to see him weave his way toward the kitchen, a hand on the wall to steady him, his dark eyes blown wide, glazed, and dizzy. Dick dropped his spatula and dashed over to the witch to steady him, a hand on his arm. “Whoa, there… you alright?” Dick murmured, and Nix felt that hot, sick, curl in his belly again. 

Gene nodded. “Yeah. ‘M fine. Just a bit…overwhelmed.”

“Come on,” Dick said, guiding him toward the table. “Sit down. Dinner’s almost done.”

Feet still a bit unsteady underneath him, he allowed Dick to guide him to the table, where he plunked himself down into a seat across from Nix. He sat back, eyes still a bit dazed, though they focused on Nix. “Alright?” Nix asked.

Gene gave a sharp nod. “Yeah.”

Nix couldn’t help it—he took a deep breath and caught a whiff of the witch’s blood—it wasn’t like earlier, it didn’t terrify him and make him hungry at the same time. Now, it was muted, and he glanced down at the man’s bandaged hand. Nix clutched his bottle tighter and took another drink. He could smell Dick all over him. 

Gene’s dark eyes focused on the bottle and his brows pulled together, but he didn’t say anything. After Nix finished the bottle, he rose to fetch another one. “Want anything to drink?” He asked. Gene frowned at him and Nix rolled his eyes. “Water? Milk? I think I bought juice.”

Gene took a deep breath and allowed his shoulders to relax. “Water’d be appreciated. Thanks.”

Nix nodded and grabbed a glass of cold water for the man. He set it before him then took a seat again. “You look better than last night, except for…” Nix waved vaguely and Gene nodded.

“Feelin’ betta.”

“That’s good.”

Before Nix had to think of anything else to say, Dick set a plate of French toast along with some butter and syrup in front of the man, then he settled between Gene and Nix with his own plate. “Eat up,” Dick ordered.

Nix thought the witch might protest, but he’d apparently already gotten used to Dick’s occasionally overbearing nature because he simply picked up his fork and began to butter his French toast. Nix watched this happen, bewildered but slightly amused.

After Gene had eaten a slice of his toast in obedient silence, Dick asked “Did you get what you needed?”

Gene ran a hand unconsciously through his raven hair, slowly, caressingly, as though his head ached and he attempted to soothe it. “Some.” He answered. “Still got a lot of work to do, though.”

“The books?” Dick asked.

“Yeah. Gonna start goin’ through ‘em after this.” He took a sip of water. “Thanks, by the way.”

“Sure.” 

Nix glanced between Dick and Gene and made himself take another swallow of blood. _How the hell did I end up in this situation?_ Nix wondered to himself. It was his fault. He knew it was. He just couldn’t quite figure out how. _You pursued a hunter, where did you think it was going to lead you?_ He had to fight back a growl at his own unhelpful thoughts. _I didn’t think it’d end up with my harboring a stray witch._ He studied the witch in a way that he hoped wasn’t obvious. _He is handsome, though. Dark hair, dark eyes. Tall, lean. Pale. A voice that could make you shiver. And oh yeah, powerful, too._ The snide voice in the back of his mind added, unhelpfully: _Dick DOES seem to have a type, doesn’t he?_

After he’d finished his two slices of toast, Gene directed his dark, intense gaze at Dick and asked “Do you have a map of the United States?”

Dick shrugged and turned to Nix. “Do you?”

“Sure. There’s an atlas in the library.”

Gene focused on Nix, now, and Nix wondered if it was just as hard for the witch to sit in the same room as him as it was for Nix. “Is it expensive?”

Nix frowned. “I don’t know.”

Gene huffed, recalculating. “Do ya mind if it’s damaged?”

“What do you need it for?”

Gene’s eyes hardened, his resolve apparent, and Nix wondered, yet again, what exactly he’d allowed into his home. “I’m gonna locate Edward and Lipton.”

* * *

That’s how Nix found himself hovering near the table in the library twenty minutes later (he’d finally gotten dressed), arms crossed in a mix of defense and skepticism. Dick perched in a chair next to Gene, who’d pushed aside a bowl of water in order to lay the atlas flat on the table. He sat before it now, tall, a few strands of reddish hair laid across the top of the page, his hands pressed at the edges of the paper. Dick reached out and laid a hand on his arm. “You sure you’re up for this?” He asked, voice low, concerned.

Gene turned to him and they seemed to communicate silently for a moment, before Gene nodded and said “’M fine. Besides, we ain’t got much time.”

Dick’s hand slid away from Gene’s arm and the witch closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, murmured the name “Edward Heffron,” and his fingers dug into the paper just as Nix was pushed back a step by the wave of magic that spilled out of the man. Even Dick rocked back an inch. 

The map lines began to shiver and shake, the borders between states suddenly squirming. The ink looked like it was melting, running, and Nix felt his mouth drop open. A moment later, a small, yellow light appeared inside the paper and it started to move along the still-swimming lines of ink. Nix watched, fascinated and slightly horrified, as the light made its way to a city he knew very well and then stopped there. The ink gave one final shimmer then solidified once more, and the pressure in the room eased as Gene opened his eyes and sat back, his pale hands still pressed to the antique paper. “Edward’s in New York.” He murmured. 

Next to him, voice low so as not to startle the man, Dick asked “And Lip?”

“Let’s find out,” Gene drawled. He raised his right hand, delicately, and pressed his index finger to the dot that represented New York city. “Carwood Lipton,” he intoned, and the library lights flickered as the city glowed blue, just for a moment. 

Nix clenched his hands into fists and fought to keep his racing heart under control. 

“What did that mean?” Dick pressed, “Is he there?”

Gene sat back, his shoulders slumping from the exertion, and continued to gaze at the two fading lights on the map. “He’s there.”

Dick sighed and Nix watched his lover’s shoulders relax—Lip’s possession and disappearance had been weighing so heavily on him. Dick took a deep breath. “He’s alive?”

Gene nodded. “They both are. For now.”

Nix couldn’t hold it in anymore—he was too damn curious, and apprehensive. “How the hell did you do that?”

Gene sighed, as if he was gearing up for a long, drawn-out fight. “Locator spell.”

Nix shifted uncomfortably on his feet. “All you need is a name?”

Gene cocked his head to side, regarding Nix, and Nix wondered what he saw. “A name’s enough for most things.” He nodded toward the strands of hair. “I had a bit more than that, though.”

“And Lipton?” Nix asked, feeling a shiver run up his spine, “I don’t see anything of his, here.”

The corner of Gene’s lips curled into the vaguest hint of a smile. “He’s wearin’ a charm I made for him—I searched for my own energy that time.”

Dick shifted at his side. “That why the lights flickered?”

Gene shrugged uneasily. “It happens sometimes.”

“How can you be sure he’s still wearing the charm?” Nix asked. “If I had just kidnapped a hunter, I’d strip him of everything.”

Gene snorted and his eyes grew darker. “They mighta, too, except that the charm keeps the demon Ron Speirs from findin’ him. And I’m willin’ to bet that serves their purposes just fine.”

Dick inched closer to the atlas. “It keeps Speirs from finding him. But not you?”

“Nope,” Gene said, shaking his head, “not me.”

* * *

The hours ticked away—the night grew deeper, and the silence yawned around them. The three of them sat around the table, flipping through the brittle, antiqued pages of the books Harry had given them. They weren’t sure what they were looking for—something, anything, that might help them. Their earlier argument had gone something like this: “We know where they are now. Why can’t we just go and get them?”

“It ain’t safe. We need a plan first.”

“We can exorcise them. Come on, Dick’s done it before, and so’ve you, from what Harry said….”

“Can’t exorcise ‘em.”

“What? Why not?”

“Because the demon that’s got Edward said it’d kill him if we tried to exorcise it.”

“Can it do that? Won’t that kill the demon, too?”

“It can do it. No problem. It’d just jump to a new body.”

“Fuck.”

“Yeah.”

“What does it want, then? Just a body?”

“Not _any_ body. It wants me.”

“You? Why you?”

“The demon thinks I’m powerful enough to make it worth its time.”

“What does it want you for? To kill you?”

“Nah. Worse than that. New vessel.”

“Shit. Then what are we gonna do?”

“Gotta kill it, somehow.”

“I thought you couldn’t kill a demon.”

“You can’t. Yet.”

So now the hours wound down and Dick had started to slump—Nix knew he hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, passed out on the floor in the hallway, worried about the grim-faced witch who scanned through page after page and muttered to himself in French. 

“You should get some sleep,” Nix suggested, brushing his foot along Dick’s calf under the table.

“Can’t,” Dick said, shaking himself and straightening. He cleared his throat. “We’ve only got, what? Six days?”

Gene nodded gravely. 

“Go on,” Nix insisted. “You can’t help when you’re dead on your feet. I’ll stay and help Gene.”

Gene raised his eyes to Nix’s, and there was a moment, briefly, where Nix thought that they might actually understand each other, and then Gene turned to Dick. “He’s right. You should sleep.”

Dick glanced between the two of them, his shoulder tense, eyes narrowed, obviously wary, but Nix coaxed, “Just a nap. We’ll be fine. Promise.”

Gene nodded his assent.

“Alright.” Dick said, standing wearily. Something in his back cracked as he did so and Nix simply raised an eyebrow. “Yeah, yeah,” Dick muttered. “Point taken.” He brushed a hand across Gene’s shoulder then rounded the table to press a kiss to Nix’s lips, softly, gratefully, before shuffling from the library. 

Gene’s eyes lingered on Nix’s lips, but Nix ignored him, ears perked and listening intently until he heard Dick collapse with a huff into their bed. Then, still ignoring the witch, he focused once more on the book before him.

They worked silently for another twenty minutes before Nix paused and glanced up to find that Gene was already staring back at him. Nix swallowed thickly. “Do you think you can actually get him back? Edward?”

Gene’s eyes darkened, shuttered. “Have to. Ain’t no other choice.”

“You love him.”

Gene nodded. “I do. And I’ll do whatever it takes to bring him back.”

Nix contemplated that statement, his fingers brushing idly at the dry pages of his heavy tome. “I can’t imagine the situation you’re in right now,” Nix started. “I can’t imagine how much it must hurt. How angry you must be. But I know what I’d do in your place.” He shook his head. “Dick doesn’t love by halves. He goes all in. And he’s decided to do this. He’s gonna follow you, wherever you lead him, to get his best friend back, because that’s the kind of man he is, and for some reason, he’s decided that he trusts you.”

Gene dipped his head in acknowledgement.

“I want you to look me in the eyes right now and tell me that you’re not going to get him killed.”

They stared at each other and the air between them settled, grew heavy, tense. Gene cocked his head to the side. “You really love him, don’t you?”

Nix swallowed thickly and nodded, because God help him, it was true. “I do.”

“You’re a vampire. He’s just a man. I don’t wanna sound callous, but… what future can the two of you possibly have? He’s going to grow old and die someday. You won’t.”

Nix felt the softly spoken words like a punch to the gut. It knocked the air out of him, and every single strangling, self-conscious thought he’d pushed to the back of his psyche suddenly crept out of the dark. He couldn’t find the words to respond.

“I don’t mean ta be cruel. But I know what it’s like. To be alone. To find someone. To have them taken from you. It’d destroy me.”

Nix shuddered, his hands clenching into desperate fists. Gene’s eyes were soft, though, full of…sympathy, and understanding, and Nix wanted to strike him, but knew he wouldn’t. Knew he couldn’t. Knew it wouldn’t be fair. “It’d destroy me, too.” He muttered, because it was true.

Gene nodded, determined, and still meeting Nix’s eyes, promised “I won’t get him killed.”

**Author's Note:**

> Remember folks, comments are love and keep me motivated! Please let me know what you thought! Also, feel free to come say hi on tumblr. I'm @realhunterswearplaid.

**Works inspired by this one:**

  * [How the hell did I end up in this situation?](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21617074) by [Lysel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lysel/pseuds/Lysel)




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